MESSIER 16 UNBIND THEIR THIRD SINGLE, THE CATHARTIC FINAL TRACK “RHO”
After four years in the making, Oslo-based Messier 16 unbinds their debut album “iota”. Aimed at relentlessly contemplative catharsis, this record seeks to dislodge the very bones of your quintessence. In a world of extreme solitude, Messier 16 encourages you to find company in this 53-minute journey of solemn musical atmosphere, to dare wallow in it, and let it be a hearth to which you can dry up.
The last single is also the last track on the album, Rho. Listen to the single HERE!
Rho, (meaning ‘density’, in physics), is the album’s last track, an explosive and yearning resolution to the album. It seeks to conclude a lot of the ideological material presented throughout the album, both in terms of music and lyrical content. It’s aggressive and fast paced, and calls to mind influences of both death metal and black metal, while also exploring more atmospheric elements.
Jonas comments on the single:
“The track tries to inspire catharsis after what is essentially a 53 minute long contrast between high tension and relief. As it is the last track written on the album, I feel like it perfectly represents the feeling of melancholy in closing off a chapter in life for good. To have courage to move on somewhere that’ll eventually be a better place in time. All in all, the album ends on a hopeful and sympathetic note.”
Rho is the third and last single off their record, to be released May 14th.
Inspired by bands like ColdWorld, Opeth and Emperor, as well as Stravinsky, Steve Reich and Jon Hopkins, iota is a difficult album to place, but an easy album to embrace. It’s a musical heat blanket of extreme metal, contemporary classical, and earnest choral elements.
All music written by Jonas Ulrik Eide, founder of the band, with the exception of the opening track, written by Alexander Scriabin, and played by the pianist Eirik Haug Stømner. There’s an orchestra piece played by Trondheim Symphony Orchestra. And a heap of aggressively sentimental metal tracks throughout.
The album as a whole is a deep dive in emotional desperation, and hopefully the listener will find it as inspiring, frustrating, melancholic and atmospheric as it can be
